Entities often generate and use data that is important in some way to their operations. This data can include, for example, business data, financial data, and personnel data. If this data were lost or compromised, the entity may realize significant adverse financial and other consequences. Accordingly, many entities have chosen to back up some or all of their data so that in the event of a natural disaster, unauthorized access, or other events, the entity can recover any data that was compromised or lost, and then restore that data to one or more locations, machines, and/or environments.
While systems, hardware, computer-readable media, and methods for backing up and/or restoring data provide important functionality to the entity for whose benefit they are employed, the particular manner in which they are executed can result in the introduction of certain problems.
For example, backup processes performed in an environment that include multiple clients may cause the generation of one, or more, backups for each of the clients every time the backup process is performed. However, these backups can take a significant amount of storage space, particularly when multiple backup processes are performed over a period of time that result in the generation of multiple backups for each client or other node. This situation becomes even more problematic in environments where the backups are maintained in storage for an indefinite period of time. Moreover, these backups occupy storage space that could otherwise be used for other purposes. While additional storage space can be purchased, the additional storage space may be expensive, and introduces further maintenance and other costs as well.
Another example of a problem that can arise in connection with backup processes that involve multiple clients' attempts to reduce the amount of storage space required for the backup. In particular, the individual backups created for each client or other node in a group may, in some instances, be combined in some fashion in an attempt to reduce the amount of storage space ultimately required. However, such an approach does not eliminate the requirement to store each of the individual backups until such time as they can be combined. Moreover, the combined backup cannot be created until all of the individual backups have been created and stored. Thus, this approach to creating a combined backup so as to reduce storage space requirements can result in relatively long backup windows that consume system resources which could be used for other purposes.
In light of the foregoing, it would be helpful to reduce the amount of storage space required by backups of multiple nodes. As well, it would be desirable to be able to reduce the backup window required by a backup process that spans multiple nodes.